


Special Delivery

by boomsherlocka



Series: Spring It Shall Flower [1]
Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: AU, Delivery Person Sidney Crosby, Geno Still Plays Hockey, M/M, but not in this fic, fLOWERS FLOWERS EVERYWHERE
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-28
Updated: 2019-07-28
Packaged: 2020-07-24 19:35:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20019898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boomsherlocka/pseuds/boomsherlocka
Summary: The first time, it was peonies.In which Geno tried to woo his delivery man with flowers.





	Special Delivery

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was 1000% inspired by a viral video of a delivery man dropping off a package on someone's front porch, smelling their flowers and bounding off. This person looked like Sidney Crosby. I talked to my Penguins Ladies and decided I needed to write this dumb meet cute. 
> 
> Thanks for the encouragement Nicole and Stephanie. 
> 
> Link to the Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbGaEpOCer8

The first time, it was peonies.

Geno just happened to be home when the small screen by his front door flared to life, triggered by motion. He looked up in time to see the delivery guy walk up his front porch steps, place the package on his welcome mat, and hesitate. The delivery man glanced from the package to the pot of peonies that sat to the left of the front door and he moved, stooping to tie his shoe.

Only he didn’t. He leaned over one of the largest blooms and sniffed, his eyes falling shut for a moment. Soon enough he straightened, tugged down his brown uniform shirt, bounded down the stairs and disappeared out of frame, the screen going dark.

Geno couldn’t help his surprised laughter as he listened to the truck lumber away. He opened the door and snatched up his package, all thought of what he had ordered forgotten.

He pulled out his phone and opened his home security app. It took some maneuvering, but soon enough he figured out how to save the footage that had just been recorded.

Then he opened Amazon.

_/\\_

Delivery guy always arrived at the same time, give or take a few minutes. He always wore shorts and a matching uniform top, and they were always pressed neatly. He wore a baseball cap pulled low, obscuring his face in the video, but Geno had a pretty good imagination. It took a few more deliveries for Geno to notice that his upper arm was covered in tattoos and not obscured by shadows like he had previously thought.

He lingered over the magnolia bush that Geno replaced the peonies with, and the PR team had been pleased to receive a plant to spruce up their offices. It had really been a win-win.

He had taken to ordering anything and everything he could think of. One day he’d order a single roll of stick tape, the next a jar of peanut butter. He ordered a new welcome mat, some sponges he had seen on some television show, and more toilet paper than he could use in a year.

Every package heralded a new flower for the porch, and with every new flower the delivery man would stoop and take a deep sniff of the fragrant blooms.

He wasn’t a fan of lavender, but loved the bright orange hibiscus. The sweet pea drew him in for a second smell, while the carnations drew only cursory interest. He took a picture after he huffed the honeysuckle, and the entirety of the Pens organization were starting to wonder why on earth Geno kept bringing in plants.

When he had installed the wisteria he puttered around the house, trying his best to pretend that he wasn’t waiting for the delivery man.

He was waiting on the delivery man.

His camera flickered to life as the delivery man mounted the porch, Geno’s package—a tube of fancy French toothpaste—propped between his wrist and his hip. He placed it on the new welcome mat gingerly before turning towards the frothy purple flowers, his eyes sliding closed in anticipation of the scent. The smile that grew on his face confirmed his approval.

Geno made a noise that sounded ripped straight from his gut and he slapped a hand over his mouth, hoping it wasn’t loud enough to be heard through his front door.

But no, the delivery man was pulling a pad of “Sorry we missed you” sticky notes and scribbling something on it before carefully sticking it to Geno’s front door. With a determined little nod he turned, heading back to his truck.

Geno didn’t dare open the front door until the rumble of the delivery truck’s engine was long since faded. He picked up the small box and steeled himself as he peeled the note from his front door.

In the comments section, the delivery man had written:

_I like your flowers._

_-Sid_

Sid.

Geno stuck the note to the wall beside the door and did something he would never in a million years admit to doing: he folded his hands over his heart and sighed a sigh that could only be described as lovesick.

_/\\_

When Geno discovered that it was possible to also order plants off the internet, he could hardly contain his excitement. He was spoiled for choice, stunned by the exotic blooms and bright colors as he clicked through page after page. He didn’t understand many of their names—the Latin escaped him—but he wanted all of them, every last blossom.

Logically he knew he couldn’t have them all. He had spent far too much of his time considering flowers and online shopping and Sid the delivery man. He narrowed his focus a bit and made himself a list of flowers that were described as fragrant and attractive. The first order he made was for a mature lilac bush, and when he had it potted and placed on his doorstep, he couldn’t stop himself from taking a step back and admiring his handiwork. He took a small cutting from the back and brought it inside, dropping it in water and putting it on the kitchen counter. The sweet scent tickled his nose but he didn’t mind.

He didn’t have to keep it there for long. He had a bundle of crème and yellow irises on the way that he thought Sid would like.

Sid did like them. He pulled out an iPhone that appeared to have seen better days and snapped a couple of pictures before leaving Geno’s front porch behind.

_/\\_

An issue arose when Sid began hesitating on his doorstep. He would take a deep breath of the scent of flowers, twist his body towards the front door and where the large crate that held the flowers Geno had chosen for next time Sid would grace his door. His hand would flutter to his pad of delivery notices, his brow would wrinkle into a frown, and he would take a step back. Soon enough he would turn and go down the steps of the porch and disappear from view. More than once Geno would cross to the door, wrap his hand around the knob, but stop short of actually opening the door that would bring him face to face with Sid. He wasn’t sure why he would hesitate, what kept him from saying something to him, but he didn’t.

When the pansies were delivered Sid barely even paid attention to the four o’clocks that Geno had installed. Geno was discouraged and didn’t order anything for weeks, distracting himself with hockey and the incessant questions about why his sudden obsession with flowers had disappeared just as quickly.

Soon enough it was Tanger’s birthday, and Geno had seen a garishly printed suit online that he knew would be a hilarious gift. After confirming his size with Catherine he placed the order, paying extra for the expedited shipping.

He wasn’t waiting for Sid, of course he wasn’t. When his security camera flared to life he looked anyway, hoping that the tuberoses would catch Sid’s eye at least.

But Sid wasn’t the one delivering the package. It was a scrawny looking teenager who was chewing an obnoxiously large wad of gum and listening to something in his headphones that was making him bob his head. He all but threw the box on the doorstep before going back down the stairs.

Geno was a rational man. True, he may have been prone to emotional outbursts on the ice but he rarely let things get to him off of it. Sid’s absence, however, flared panic in his stomach. Was something wrong? Had he quit his job? It wasn’t like Geno could inquire about the absurdly attractive delivery driver if he called the company. How could he explain that he had been ordering item after item just for the sheer joy of seeing him enjoy the flowers that Geno had left for him? He couldn’t.

He had missed his chance to talk to him. He had hesitated, and now it was too late.

Dejectedly, he deleted the Amazon app from his phone. The joy of seeing Tanger opening the tackiest suit in existence wasn’t quite enough to pull him out of his funk, although it did help.

The tuberoses were wilting a bit by the next week when his grocery delivery was set to arrive. He hadn’t given them much of a passing glance now that he knew that Sid wouldn’t be there to appreciate them. There was the rumbling of the delivery truck, the thunk of a box landing on his doorstep, and after a moment a light knock on his door. He had just about convinced himself that he had misheard when Geno finally stood and went to bring in the cooler on his doorstep before his produce started to wilt.

When he opened the door the package was not the first thing he saw. The planter of tuberoses had been pulled in front of his door and there was a note attached to the base of the pot that had ‘WATER ME” written in big block letters in the comments section.

Geno tripped over his welcome mat getting back inside to review the video. Sure enough, it had been Sid, who had pressed a finger into the soil, frowned, and dragged the pot over to the door, shaking his head. He filled his watering can with water from the sink and went out to do what Sid had instructed him to do.  
  
He brought in his package after the flowers had drank their fill.

Geno pulled out his phone, a smile growing on his face.

_/\\_

Geno had been at the window for the better part of an hour, waiting for the delivery truck to arrive. The expected delivery date was today and his stomach was in knots. He hoped it was Sid. It had to be Sid.

He wasn’t sure what he was going to do if it wasn’t Sid.

But it was.

Sid was carrying a medium-sized crate and only hesitated a moment when there was no plant on Geno’s doorstep. That moment of hesitation was enough time for Geno to swing open the door and take a deep breath, finally coming face to face with Sid for the first time.

He was even more attractive in person. His brow was slightly furrowed and his hands were on his hips. Geno’s heart flipped as he took in everything about him, his muscular calves, his trim waist, his tattoos, his hazel eyes, his full lips that were slowly quirking into a smile.

“Sid,” Geno said a bit breathlessly, smiling a bit in return.

“Evgeni Malkin,” Sid said. “Ah… sorry. I hope that’s not creepy, I just… your name is on all of your packages, and I sort of… did a little research to make sure that it was actually you. And it is. You. Hi.”

“You not creepy, I’m creepy, I watch you deliver package every time,” Geno said, waving vaguely back towards his house. “Hide inside, watch camera.”

“You’re not a good hider,” Sid said with a little laugh. “You’ve got a window on your front door. I could see movement sometimes. You’re… ah. You’re pretty hard to miss.”

Geno groaned, covering his face with his hands. Of course Sid would think he was weird. Of course he would notice him slinking around the house. 

“Where’s your plant?” Sid asked as he tapped the box he had just delivered. “Is that what’s in here?”

Geno let his hands fall away then shook his head. “Ah, no. What’s in the box is for you. I notice you like flower, that is what I see first. I have flower I buy on impulse, put on porch for invite people inside, and you notice. You lean in and smell and I think… I like he notice. So I keep buy flowers, different ones, see what you like.” Geno took another deep breath and rested a hand on the crate in front of him. “So I think… anyway. This for you.”

Sid’s eyes were wide as he looked down at the crate. “You got me something?” he asked, almost hesitant.

Geno nodded, not sure what else to say. He wanted Sid to open the crate, but it wasn’t like he could demand him to do so. He didn’t want to be rude. Rude wouldn’t get him where he wanted to go.

Sid opened the crate and lifted out the bush, which was loaded down with bright red roses, fragrant and lush. Sid’s face disappeared in the blooms before he lowered the bush away from his face, his cheeks an adorable shade of pink. “You bought me roses,” Sid said softly, hugging the pot to his chest.

“Saved the best for you,” Geno said with a nod. “You like?”

Sid nodded, looking up into Geno’s eyes. “Yeah, I do. They’re amazing. Thank you, Evgeni. They’re amazing.”

“Please, call me Geno,” Geno said with a smile.

“Geno,” Sidney echoed, nodding. “Okay. Great. Hey, can you hold this?” he asked, pushing the pot of roses into Geno’s arms. He took them with a little frown as Sid pulled out his note pad, scribbling something down. “So I have the rest of my shift to work, but, ah. When I’m done I’ll give you a call? We can… we can get drinks, or something. No pressure or anything, but… I mean, I’m assuming that you’d be into that?”

“Definitely into that,” Geno said as Sid reached out to stick the note on Geno’s shoulder before taking his roses back. Sid was still deliciously pink and he nodded.

“Good, okay. I… ah. I’ve got a schedule to keep so I should go,” he said, taking a few steps backward. “But Geno?”

Geno nodded, raising his eyebrows a bit.

“You should get some flowers for your porch, it looks naked without them,” Sid said with a lopsided smile.

“What should I get?” Geno asked.

Sid turned and strode away, He turned to look at Geno over his shoulder. “Surprise me,” he said.

Then he winked.


End file.
